


I Am Hers(As She Is Mine)

by KanraTheTeddyB3ar



Series: The Undone & The Divine [3]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: F/M, Kyrie and Nero cameo in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 07:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30052038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KanraTheTeddyB3ar/pseuds/KanraTheTeddyB3ar
Summary: Remember me, love, when I'm rebornAs a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn~ Hozier,ShrikeAttempting to get along with a former lover for the sake of an adult child is a learning curve for even normal people. But there’s nothing normal about Claudia and Vergil.
Relationships: Nero's Mother/Vergil (Devil May Cry)
Series: The Undone & The Divine [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2102574
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	I Am Hers(As She Is Mine)

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place 2 months after _The Sick Rose._

Conversations turn to arguments so easily. When one loves and loathes the one that causes them pain, where is the middle ground? With bonds that run deeper than the roots of trees and are as ancient as Earth, where does the commonality of the burden lay? How does one separate the pain from the love when the two are one in the same?

These are the struggles that come when lovers reunite too many years too late.

The scowls that match, the venom that spews, the need for answers that would flay one alive. A million watt electrical wire straight to the heart with every step. Two pacing hybrids that pause only to continue the torture. A once peaceful home turned battleground. The lack of slamming doors so the silence never gets any true finality.

This is what greets any who walk through the door of Nero and Kyrie’s apartment.

In truth, Claudia regretted the current situation. She didn’t like that the only times there was any peace in her son’s apartment was when either his father or herself were asleep or otherwise outside the apartment. What surprised her the most was how patient he and Kyrie had been. They could easily kick her and Vergil out and forbid their return until they had worked on their own relationship. And besides, Nero went around her father’s often enough that he could easily visit both herself and his (perhaps only) living grandfather.

At the current moment, however, as Vergil glares down at her (an impressive feat considering he was all of 5 inches taller than her), she couldn’t find it within herself to give a damn. Not about the atmosphere around them, not the poisonous air that filled their lungs. Not even the way her heart skipped a beat as she studied those steel grey eyes. If there was one thing about him that hadn’t changed, it was his eyes.

How she hated the way she couldn’t hate the way he looked at her, even when brewing with vitriol.

An awkward cough from the corner of the room, and the pair separate, heading off in different directions - Vergil likely going outside, and Claudia heading upstairs. She only stops outside the master bedroom, where Kyrie stood by the bed, folding laundry. Claudia let out a long sigh as she knocked on the door, only entering when Kyrie nodded.

“Is Nero still out with the boys?” She asked, sitting on the stool in front of the vanity.

“He got home not long ago, actually,” Kyrie answered, pausing in her folding to level her eyes on her boyfriend’s mother. “I’m not surprised you didn’t hear him enter.”

Claudia hummed, nodding her head. Of course it wasn’t surprising. Some days it was rare that either she or Vergil would acknowledge anyone outside of the other. Some days they had the presence of mind to not speak to the other at all. On the occasional day, they can actually converse like two normal people, joke, smile fondly. Remember why they fell in love and decided as two idiot teens that starting a family was the best damn thing since sliced bread.

“Is he in the garage, then?” She asked after a pause. “I was planning to stay at my father’s and I wanna let him know where I’ll be… Just in case he ever wants to visit me.”

“I think he’s cleaning out the gutters right now,” Kyrie moved to the windows, ducking her head out for a moment. “He’s heading down the ladder now, so best be quick.”

“Right. Sorry for all the trouble I’ve been,” Claudia paused on her way out the door, a meek smile on her lips. “I can’t imagine how much lighter things will be for you.”

“Thank you,” Kyrie smiled, her expression one of unending warmth. It was no wonder that Nero was drawn to her. “And I can’t imagine how much lighter things will be when you and Vergil work through your issues.”

Departing, Claudia quickly informed Nero of where she’d be if he ever had a mind to visit. Then, she made her way to her father’s home, to breath, if only for a moment, and to ponder.

Memories pervaded every inch of Anthony Tano’s home. Pictures of Claudia as a child with her beaming father, a few of an almost angelic looking woman. Should Claudia delve into her angelic side, she could see her mother’s true form, an amorphous mass of light that looked vaguely human shaped, wearing glittering armor made from materials not known to Earth, surrounded by weapons made of the same materials.

The ones that carried the most pain, that interrupted her sleep with their painful happiness, were the three photos on the mantle of the library fireplace. Ones that had been sitting under over 20 years of dust and grime, recently re-exposed to the light. Two with the typical teen couple pose, and one of an ultrasound. A reminder of a time when all the world was roses and occasional demons. A reminder of when a hybrid boy met a hybrid girl.

Such the days passed, with the tension seeming to abate. But the want for answers, no matter how bitter, remained. Thus, Claudia found herself in the kitchen, dicing carrots, mushrooms, and beef. A simple enough meal for a very complex conversation that had yet to take place. The occasional creak of the rocking chair in the sitting room where her father crocheted served as the only reminder that she wasn’t alone.

A knock on the door broke the silence. 

“I’ll get it!” Anthony called, rising from the rocking chair as Claudia departed the kitchen. She’d scarcely stepped a single toe into the living room when her father’s shouts rang from the entry hall.

Speed-walking the rest of the distance, Claudia paused just behind her father, who glared at a somehow blanched Vergil. It could almost be considered comical, a 6’5 cambion paling at the sight of her 5’10 father. But there was no laughing track today.

“Selene… Why is _that boy_ standing on my porch?” She could almost see the way her father’s nostrils flare when he’s pissed. And he was _pissed_ , there’s no mistaking it. “Who the hell told you that you could come crawling back?”

“Papa, I invited him over,” Claudia placed her hands on her father’s shoulders, only for them to be shaken off. Shaking her head, she continued, “I thought you’d be out of the house by the time he got here.”

“And you couldn’t warn your old man?” He rounded on her for a moment before sighing. Turning back around to face Vergil, fixing him once again with a vitriolic glare, he stated, “I’m only going to say this once, _Vergil_. I was hesitant to let you into my home, let alone near my daughter. But you made her happy, so I stood out of the way. You broke her heart when you didn’t come back, leaving my little girl to rearrange her whole life in order to raise the child _you_ assured her you wanted. I was the one who dried her tears, who taught her to change a diaper, who comforted her when… Well, that doesn’t matter. If you intend _anything_ beyond groveling my Selene for forgiveness like the damned dog you are, **I’ll put you down like one.** "

“Papa!”

“Oh, hush,” Anthony grabbed his coat and hat jerkily, “Now, I’m gonna head out to visit some old friends. Don’t you let him use those words that tricked you before, Selene. You’re smarter and wiser now.”

Claudia sighed as her father departed, and she motioned Vergil in. Not pausing to even greet him, she hastily made her way back to the kitchen to continue where she left off, throwing the ingredients still on the counter into the now bubbling broth. Footsteps alerted her, and she turned to face her ex-lover, now stoic faced.

Then she noticed the long stemmed, blue rose he held.

“For you,” The blunt delivery, the averted eyes. He really hadn’t changed, had he? She accepts the rose, removing the fake sunflower from the vase on the dining table and replacing it with the rose. Giving a sigh, she returned to the broth.

“Sorry my dad,” She says, unable to go further with the meaning of the rose.

“There’s no need to apologize,” He says, accompanied by the sound of a chair being partially dragged out. “It’s understandable that he would be unhappy with my presence. I see he still refuses to use your first name.”

“Yeah, he and mother still go rounds when she visits,” Claudia rolled her eyes as she gave a final stir to the stew before placing a lid and turning down the heat. Turning to face Vergil, she leaned against the counter and said, “It’s not the only thing they go rounds about, but it’s my name most of the time. Or, at least, that’s the excuse.”

“Yes, how is Saraniel?” 

“I wouldn’t know. Last time she visited papa was 3 years ago, and she hasn’t said a word to me since I told her I was looking for you.”

“A long time then,” She rolls her eyes at his smug tone and equally smug smile. He’d always gone on about how she could hold a grudge just as much as he could.

“If you count 2 years as a long time,” She said with a snort. “I was preoccupied with other things until I heard about the Qliphoth incident. It was a long shot, I admit, but who else would get it in their head to raise a demon tree that feeds off human blood?”

“A fair point,” He hummed. There was a moment of silence before he asked, “And where was Nero in all this? From what I’ve been informed, you certainly didn’t raise him. Did you readily abandon our child simply because I didn’t come back?”

“No!” She shouted, turning on her heel. Counting backwards from 10, she said, “I’ll tell you after we eat. The stew’s done.”

Getting bowls and spoons out, she ladled a generous portion for them both, and brought the bowls over the dining table, setting his down in front of him before setting hers down on the opposite end. Grabbing a random bottle of wine from the wine rack, she popped it open and drank straight from it. Manners be damned, she needed something to prep her for the oncoming conversation.

The silence was tense, and she could tell they were both scarfing down what was in their bowls. Vergil finished first, so Claudia picked up his bowl, shotgunning the rest of hers as she walked to the sink. Placing the bowls in it, she returned to the dining table, taking another swig of wine before sitting.

“Where do you want me to start?” She asked before he could get another word in. “The part where I left for my first independent doctor’s appointment and left 5-month-old Nero with my mother… Or the part where I came back and he was gone?”

“Gone?” It almost said something to her, the incense in his voice. “How was he gone? Saraniel is an Authority, how could he have disappeared?”

“I don’t know,” She answered. “To hear mother tell it, she stepped into another room for a moment, and when she returned, he was gone. Then she whisked me off Fortuna when I said that I was going to look for him because my angelic abilities manifested.”

“Did you even try to look for him?”

“What the fuck do you think I did when my training ended? I looked **everywhere** for him, Vergil! My entire world was upended for a second fucking time when he disappeared! And then I find out that he was on fucking _Fortuna_ all the fuck along!”

She has to stop for a moment. She could feel the need to sob choking her, and she refused to break down in front of him again. It was embarrassing enough when she did 2 months ago, when just the sight of him was enough to bring all that raw emotion to the forefront.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” She hates the wobble in her voice, the tear that silently falls, the way he reaches out a hand to wipe it away then thinks better of it and returns it to his lap.

“For… leaving, and not coming back,” He says, finally. “I chose to stay in Hell after the portal was opened in the Temen-Ni-Gru, rather than think to return to you and our son. Though my apology is roughly 24 years late.”

“Yeah, you got that right,” She says with a wet giggle. “We’re right messes, you know that?”

That gets a chuckle, and it’s good enough for her. The wounds weren’t healed, but she could sense the frightened teen girl that she harbored in her mind could finally rest easy. Even if only for a moment.

“At least I can confirm that he’s stubborn like his mother,” The opportunity for light-hearted banter was a surprise, but still, she smiled.

“And he holds a grudge like his father,” She shot back with a shit-eating grin. “You have heard about how he held onto your brother calling him deadweight, didn’t you? Definitely your son.”

“ _My_ son?” She laughed at Vergil’s mock incredulous tone.

The air lightened significantly that night, though one question hung above their heads. One that went unanswered as Vergil departed, and Claudia slunk upstairs to her old room, pausing only a moment to reminisce at the faded stain on the wood that had never quite come out.

**Just who was it that stole a 5-month-old baby right out of a warrior angel’s nose?**

**Author's Note:**

> Aight, first things first: an Authority is, in Christian angelology, the beings tasked with oversight of heavenly bodies to ensure the cosmos runs as usual. They're considered warrior angels, decked out in armor with weapons/shields on them. They're the part of the Second Sphere.
> 
> Secondly: Anthony refuses to refer to Claudia by her first name as it means "lame" or "enclosure" and was intended as an insult by Saraniel as Claudia wasn't exactly the strong nephilim her mother was expecting. Yeah, Saraniel isn't exactly the standard for motherly love, lmao.


End file.
